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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 124 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: spring · stock · cold · squash · bear · wind · temple · calf

  1. There's a broken ________________ in the bed.
  2. Your daily life is your ________________ and your religion.
  3. He sold his goods at a loss to ________________ up his business.
  4. The supermarket has a large ________________ of merchandise.
  5. What's the difference between broth and ________________?
  6. The giraffe did all she could to defend her ________________.
  7. I'd like to play a game of ________________.
  8. The water is too ________________.
  9. The ________________ market has crashed.
  10. A trickle of blood ran from her ________________ down her cheek.
  11. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  12. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  13. The strong ________________ blew his hat off.
  14. It was raining hard, and to make things worse, the ________________ was beginning to rise.
  15. The hotel is built around a mineral ________________.
  16. The president vowed to ________________ the mutiny.
  17. The little girl was crying for the teddy ________________.
  18. The flowers bloom in the ________________.
  19. A black ________________ roamed the forest.
  20. Many happy returns to all who ________________ the name of a flower!
  21. He had ________________ pain while walking.
  22. The giraffe protected her ________________ with great courage.
  23. Cut the butternut ________________ into one-inch cubes.
  24. When was this ________________ built?

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. spring — a coil
  2. temple — a place of worship
  3. wind — to turn a key
  4. stock — goods
  5. stock — a soup base
  6. calf — a young animal
  7. squash — the sport
  8. cold — not warm
  9. stock — shares
  10. temple — side of the head
  11. cold — an illness
  12. cold — the Cold War
  13. wind — moving air
  14. wind — moving air
  15. spring — of water
  16. squash — to crush
  17. bear — the animal
  18. spring — the season
  19. bear — the animal
  20. bear — to put up with
  21. calf — of the leg
  22. calf — a young animal
  23. squash — the vegetable
  24. temple — a place of worship

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com